Review: ARCADIA at Cygnet Theatre

There are plays that entertain, plays that move, and then there are plays that politely suggest you should have revised your physics notes before arriving. Tom Stoppard's “Arcadia” firmly belongs to the latter category. A play of ideas wrapped in romance, mystery, mathematics, landscape gardening, literary detective work, rice pudding, Euclidean geometry, iterated algorithms and the second law of thermodynamics, it asks a great deal of its audience—and rewards much of that effort in return. 

Directed by Sean Murray, “Arcadia” unfolds in the library of Sidley Park, an English country estate, where two timelines—1809 and 1993—occupy the same space nearly two centuries apart. In the past, gifted young Thomasina Coverly (Harper Haden) studies under the charmingly distracted Septimus Hodge (Corydon Melgoza) while the household becomes tangled in affairs, duels, wounded egos, and scandal, all under the unseen influence of the notoriously amorous Lord Byron. Thomasina's mother, Lady Croom (Melanie Lora), meanwhile laments the fashionable transformation of her elegant gardens into a gloomy Gothic wilderness.

In the present, Hannah (Marti Goebl), a novelist, Bernard Nightengale (Richard Baird), a Byron scholar, and Valentine (Tanner Vydos), a mathematician, attempt to reconstruct the events and mystery of the past, only to discover how easily history can be distorted by incomplete evidence, academic ambition, and modern assumptions. 

Fortunately, the production surrounding those ideas is supported by a talented cast. Harper Haden as Thomasina brings warmth, curiosity, and youthful wonder to a character whose extraordinary intellect never overwhelms her humanity. She becomes the emotional heart of the production, and by the final moments it is impossible not to wish for more time in her company. Corydon Melgoza provides effortless melancholy-tinged charm as Septimus, matching Thomasina's quick wit in their rapid-fire exchanges with affection and an easy chemistry that gives the play its emotional center. 

Richard Baird seizes every pretentious moment as Bernard, injecting the modern storyline with comic swagger and an outsized academic ego. Marti Gobel's understated Hannah is a nice foil, grounding the production with intelligence and patience, and providing a welcome counterbalance to the academic grandstanding around her. Melanie Lora as Lady Croom, the lady of the house in 1809, is preoccupied with the aesthetics of her gardens while the mathematical and romantic upheavals swirl around her. Tanner Vydos offers a calm contrast as Valentine, the current lord of the manor in 1993 and a quietly obsessive scientist whose greatest passion is numbers—along with continuing to refer to Hannah as his fiancée regardless of her protests. 

Manny Fernandes, Luca Hansen, Fred Harlow, Byron LaDue, Paul Morgavo and Emily Nightingale round out the ensemble, each navigating Stoppard's notoriously intricate dialogue with clarity and confidence.

Technically, the production is as rich as the aristocratic world it depicts. Heather Larsen's intimate in-the-round scenic design places the audience around the study table where, regardless of the century, every discovery, argument and revelation unfolds. Elisa Benzoni's costumes elegantly distinguish between the two periods while subtly reflecting character and status, while Chris Rynne's lighting and George Ye's sound support the shifting timelines. Dialect Consultant Vanessa Dinning helped the cast capture accents that are consistent, but perhaps more importantly, the uniquely British rhythm and musicality of Stoppard's dialogue, allowing both the wit and the wordplay to land naturally.

Directed by Sean Murray, the play sets a nice pace without feeling rushed, so everything moves along, even when the more robust academic debates take more of the focus. Stoppard's script may be dazzlingly intelligent, but intelligence alone does not always equal momentum. As the first act reaches its conclusion, the conversations become increasingly dense with theories of chaos, entropy and academic debate. That cerebral weight is undeniably part of “Arcadia”'s appeal for some, but it also becomes its greatest obstacle and its academic sparring sometimes slows the evening's pace.

Murray directs with a confident pace that keeps the evening moving, even when the script disappears down its most intellectual rabbit holes. Yet the play's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. As the first act gives way to increasingly dense discussions of chaos theory, entropy and scholarship, the play occasionally becomes so enamored with its own brilliance that the dramatic momentum slows. 

Fittingly, the only character who possesses the complete truth is Plautus the tortoise, who outlives nearly everyone else. He watches the equations resolve, the lovers falter, and the historians speculate, but never offers so much as a hint. 

Still, “Arcadia” is ultimately about far more than equations and academic one-upmanship. It pits classicism against romanticism, science against poetry, certainty against speculation, all while quietly asking what traces we leave behind for others to pick up again someday. Beneath its intellect beats a heart that reminds us that even as the universe moves inexorably toward disorder, people continue to love, to learn, to dance and to search for meaning. Cygnet's elegant production embraces that paradox, leaving audiences with plenty to ponder long after the final waltz. 

How To Get Tickets

“Arcadia” is playing at Cygnet Theatre through August 9th.  For ticket and showtime information, go to cygneththeatre.org 

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